GST Council calls urgent meeting tomorrow via video conferencing

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council will hold an urgent meeting tomorrow, the agenda for which is not known yet

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council will hold an urgent meeting tomorrow, the agenda for which is not known yet.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council will hold an urgent meeting tomorrow, the agenda for which is not known yet. CNBC-TV18 citing sources said that the urgent GST Council meeting will be held through video-conferencing. The last GST Council meeting was held in Guwahati on November 9 and 10, in which a slew of measures was announced from rate cuts to ease of compliance.

On Thursday, while speaking at an event organised by FICCI, Bihar Finance Minister and GST Council member Sushil Modi said that the GST Council will consider bringing electricity, petroleum products and some other items under the ambit of GST in future. “Electricity, real estate, stamp duty and petroleum products should become part of GST (Goods and Services Tax). This would be our (GST Council) endeavour,” he had said adding that the council may also bring down 28% tax rate.

“The possible scenario could be that the current highest tax slab of 28% could be brought down to 25% and two tax slabs of 12% and 18% could be merged into one,” he had said. The current GST regime has five tax slabs — 0%, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%. An additional GST cess is also levied on certain products.

Last month, tax rates on several items, ranging from chewing gum to chocolates, to beauty products, wigs and wrist watches, were cut to provide relief to consumers and businesses. As many as 178 items of daily use were shifted from the top tax bracket of 28% to 18%, while a uniform 5% tax was prescribed for all restaurants, both air-conditioned and non-AC. Finance Minister, time and again, hinted at lower tax slabs in coming days if there is enough revenue buoyancy.